Where do CMC racers come from?

[PeteL]

I don't mean your moma's belly. I mean how did you get interested in CMC. The answers might help direct how we promote CMC.

 

I started out as a pony car guy who tried autocrossing, then HPDE including NASA HPDE, Time trials and then finally CMC.

 

Cost containment, close racing and having on track experience with pony cars are why I didn't go elsewhere.

[cozog1548534733]

I grew up in an all GM family. Dad had a couple different 69 Firebirds (350 & 400). My second car bought as an adult was a 92 Formula. Then I discovered BMWs and how well they drive. But after spinning my M Coupe at the keyhole at Mid-O, in the rain, during HPDE, I decided to find a cheaper car to put on track. That led me to CMC... back to my V8 roots.

[t500hps]

I got married young (21), had kids soon after and basically drove junk or family cars til my mid-late 30's. During that time I did start spending money on boats....eventually fast cigarette boats. 1 boater, then another boater I had boated with got into racing CMC due to friends of theirs. Several years earlier I had sold the fast boat and bought my first "fast" car, Charger SRT8 with some bolt-ons. I followed them to check out the track (NASA HPDE) in June 2011.

 

WOW!!! That was fun. Kept coming back, hanging out with guys I already knew and making new CMC/non-CMC friends along the way. By the end of 2012 I had been looking for a mustang for awhile and found/bought a retired car my buddies already knew.......in June 2013 I finished comp school!!!!!

[Glenn]

Drag racer, autocrosser, DE then wheel to wheel.

[Dustin M.]

My progression probably started when I rode snowmobiles and realized corners were more fun than mindlessly holding it to the bar and doing 100+ on a smooth, straight trail. I really started applying that to cars when I got stationed in Japan and would run their twisty roads as fast as I could. There were numerous uninhabited "courses" to choose from and after midnight, nil for traffic. I also mixed autocross with that which really took me to the next level. I came back to the states and autocrossed with the desire to do track days, then I got stationed in CO, bought a Corvette (quit autocross), and started HPDE last year. This year, I started asking about long term advice because I thought I was a couple years away from W2W. Turns out I was already ready, so I bought a car and did comp school as quick as I could. I feel like I've been destined for W2W since I was about 18 (31 now), but I really need to get a full season of it under my belt before I feel I can speak to it. I don't anticipate sucking at it, I think I'm at least good enough to be a mid pack slacker my first year.

 

How many of you feel W2W found you and how many of you feel like you've waited your whole life for it?

[soundguydave1548534741]

Always a muscle car fan, did some drag racing, but... In '06, I bought the new mustang, did my first HPDE in '08, and was hooked. Went through the ladder and into TT, then got a little bored, so a buddy and I decided to go racing. We looked at a few different series (HC, 944spec, AI), and finally settled on CMC both for the tight racing, and the great crew. The idea was to race the CMC car and occasionally TT our street cars, but two months after we bought Anders' CMC Mustang, I slammed my S197 into the guardrail at Mid-O, and suddenly had another race car... Since the CMC car just couldn't last long enough to run Enduros, I built the S197 for the long haul, and have been having a blast with both.

[ShadowBolt]

Bought a 1999 Lightning in 99 and was invited to a SVTOA event at a TMS. First dose of track crack. Started tracking the 99 Lightning and then a 2003. Sold the Lightning and bought a C6. After a track event where two cars rolled I started thinking about going 160 mph with no cage. Bought an old CMC car for a track car. CMC power was not fun after the Vette so I went racing in CMC.

 

JJ

[37Stang]

I raced go karts as a kid. Dirt oval, then paved oval, then road racing and a year with a shifter kart. Those shifter karts were/are quick!!! In addition to racing karts my Dad was into muscle cars and drag racing. It seemed when I wasn't racing karts or playing sports we were at the drag strip every weekend. Then off to college where I played baseball and a couple of years in the minor leagues. After baseball and more school it was getting married and having two great kids.

 

After establishing a career and becoming financially comfortable I built a hot rod Fox Mustang. I always knew I wanted to get back into racing due my need for competition and grew up in a "Ford family". Road racing was the funnest thing I had ever done racing karts. At the time there was no CMC so I began searching for a naturally aspirated heads up drag racing class and settled with the NMCA in a class called "Mean Street". My Dad and I built the car and I had a fairly well known engine builder do the engine. After a year of breaking something every single time I made a pass and the engine builder telling me it was in the "developmental" stages I decided I could do no worse. I had always had an interest in anything mechanical and engines fascinated me... So, I started my own engine program after finding a quality machinist that was involved in Cup racing and Ford's Boss 302 program. I was fortunate to make friends with several folks involved in Cup racing as well as NHRA Pro Stock. The fella that owns the machine shop lets me use all of the machines to do my own work as well as the dyno. With his help and some of the "connections" I had I was starting to do "Ok" in drag racing.

 

In December of 2011 my Dad was diagnosed with liver cancer and passed away in June 2012. I lost all of my motivation to continue working on the drag car. After every race my Dad and I would pull the engine, tear it apart, replace the rod bearings - I was finally getting a handle on that problem, go through everything, put it back together, get it back on the dyno, put it back in the car, go test, then off to the next race to start the process all over again. The expenses were also becoming astronomical. Piston rings that are $1,300 a set that needed to be replaced twice a season, $8,000 for "unported" cylinder heads and every single component down the bearings in the engine being "custom". We were becoming competitive and planning on making a run at the points championship in 2012 until my Dad got sick. It was a great deal of fun competing against engine builders such as Roush, Tony Bischoff and Rich Groh to name a few... I put the drag car back together last winter, fired it up and set the timing, shut it off, pumped out all of the fuel and fogged the cylinders. It has been sitting on jack stands in the shop since the second week of March race ready... People come in and ask me all the time what I am going to do with the car. I don't know if I will ever drag race again but I will never get rid of the drag car due to my Dad's involvement.

 

I had been reading and posting from time to time on this board for a few years. I always had it in the back of mind that I would like to get into road racing. Being a "Ford" guy I knew it would have to be a Mustang... After finding a "roller" I have been making steady progress on getting something together to get on the track. Fingers crossed, the car will be ready in the spring of next year so I can start DE's to work towards a Comp license.

[D Algozine]

Of the 6 real options listed, I fit 4 of them.

Owned Mustangs and Camaro's since high school. Later in life went HPDE, then realilzed I had to go racing.

Switched from AI because of the great racing in CMC

Switched from AI because of the cost / it turned into a spec S197 class

Enjoy racing and hanging out with the Midwest/Great lakes CMC group

And this is my second time around in this class. I started in CMC before moving to AI.